He once sparked a cigarettein my face. 'Don't smoke,'he said, exhaling dragon breath.The light shined brighter thananything I had ever seen before -the moon or the sun -until it faded away, fallingto the ground, no longerbreathing, its lungs collapsed,beaten to dust, crumpled,thrown into an urn of ash.

Nicholas Starkey is an undergraduate student at the University of Strathclyde, studying English and Law. He says: 'My name is Nicholas, and I love to write poetry, songs and short fiction and aspire to be like many of the great artists and writers I've grown up knowing like Murakami and Hemingway. I also love to draw along with my poetry, giving it more of an artist's touch.'